


Taking Spectacle Island

by banquos_ghost



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Adventure, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Game Spoilers, Recreational Drug Use, Side Quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 09:52:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6465676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banquos_ghost/pseuds/banquos_ghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mini adventure featuring sex, drugs and mirelurks.<br/>Nora won't rest until she's uncovered the secrets of Spectacle Island.  If that means taking MacCready out of his comfort zone that's too bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reconnaissance

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the main questline for the game is completed. Game spoilers for main quest and side quests.

Mac and Nora had been at the Castle for a few weeks now, assisting the Minutemen based there shore up the defences against inevitable retribution from the Brotherhood after the destruction of the Prydwen.  
'Budge up! Nora barked at Mac, 'I'm getting pins and needles here'  
  
'Can't. No room' he retorted.  
  
Well, that much was true. Mac and Nora were perched on a narrow ledge at the top of the Castle battlements taking turns to scan the horizon with a pair of binoculars Nora had managed to scavenge from somewhere. They were supposed to be watching out for any incoming vertibirds but this was too good an opportunity for Nora miss. Now that she had Mac in a place that he couldn't easy escape from she decided to yet again try and sell him her latest crackpot scheme.  
'Oh for Petes sake, Nora, not this again..', Mac sighed and looked around for a non-existent escape route.  
  
'Yeah, but I really don't think you've given me a fair hearing....'  
  
He sighed with a resigned air, which to Nora was as good as a written invite, so once again she set about selling him her great new idea - taking Spectacle Island.

Nora had been obsessed with the place for weeks now, ever since she first spotted it from the top of The Castle battlements. At every opportunity she whipped out her binoculars to observe the island. It was small and not far off the coast, with a few ramshackle buildings visible. She'd told Mac what she remembered about the island from before the war - it had been owned by a mysterious millionaire. His ears pricked up at that - millionaire equals loot. But island equals water, and lots of it. Mac hates water, he hates getting wet and he definitely is not up for swimming even though Nora frequently seems to think it's a marvellous idea. Not to mention that a dousing in open water was the quickest way of getting radiation sickness. Millionaire's loot or no millionaire's loot this was a crackpot scheme too far.

Still Nora persisted as they crouched on the narrow ledge. She started with the classic sales technique of painting a lovely, idealised picture. She asked him to envisage a safe home, surrounded on all sides by the sea, so easy to defend. They could gather a select group of their favourite settlers and friends to join them. They could build a happy, protected community. He seemed to be weakening, so she went for the jugular.  
'Now imagine,' she said, waving the binoculars in the air to punctuate her point, 'just imagine having such a safe and happy place to bring Duncan to.'  
  
Yes, it was pretty low of her to drag Duncan into it like that. She really did believe it herself though. Spectacle Island could be the perfect home for all of them.  
  


'Mmm,' MacCready pondered and wavered, as she knew he would at the mention of Duncan's name. He had to concede there was at least some merit to the argument. He hadn't totally left the fight though. 'What if it's another Jamaica Plain fiasco?' Now it was his turn to deliver the low blow. She'd convinced him that it would be the answer to all their prayers to find the goddamn treasure of Jamaica Plain. What a waste of time. Not worth the bullets or the aggro.

She shrugged it off. 'It won't be Mac, I mean we can already see what we're getting into, I've been watching this island for weeks now and I'm telling you it is deserted...'  
  
'Deserted for a reason?', he interjected...  
  
'Nothing we can't cope with', she countered, 'what's the absolute worse that could be there? Nothing we haven't dealt with a million times already. If there was a deathclaw or something huge I'd have seen it by now. There are definitely, positively, no people there...'  
  
'There are worse things than people you know..' he mumbled into his scarf.


	2. Row Boat

It was a fine summer morning, the sky tinged with blue and pink. They'd spent an uncomfortable night on the battlements of the Castle. Taking turns to keep watch whilst swapping a few restless hours on a small stained mattress that had conveniently been left by a previous occupant. It wasn't the best start to the day.  
Mac was not happy. His mouth set in a thin straight line. He had greeted Nora with a small peck to the cheek instead of his usual passionate embrace. 

'I said I'd **WALK** a hundred miles if there was a pile of caps at the end of it,' Mac grumbled, 'I never, ever said anything about swimming, rowing or any other form of aquatic activity. Anyway, there is no fuckin' pile of caps on the island anyway'

'Ah, you don't know that,' Nora felt a little ashamed. She'd pushed him far enough to make him swear. The shame soon passed, he'd reluctantly agreed to at least look for a boat to attempt to row across to the Island. She was going to get her way, as she knew that she would, eventually.

After scouring the coastline for a few hours, Mac's heart sank as he heard Nora's triumphant whooping from somewhere further down the dockside to the south of the Castle. Lit cigarette in hand, he walked with heavy heart in the direction of the happy shouts. Nora gave a little fist pump salute as he approached her, face effulgent with joy. Mac's face was anything but joyful.

'Yes, I did it, I found us a boat. It's not 100% perfect but it should get us there'

'Should?' Mac didn't want to rain on her parade but equally he didn't want to drown either.  
He inspected the little rowing dinghy that Nora was now cooing over. He kicked the hull with a heavy boot clad foot. 'Hmm, it seems sound enough', he had to reluctantly concede. Damn. He'd been hoping that their search wouldn't turn anything up and Nora would forget this stupid obsession once and for all. 

'...just got to find the oars now...' Nora mumbled as she rummaged through the dockside junk, pieces of debris flying to the left and right of her as she enthusiastically delved through the marine detritus.

'Yeah, you gotta have oars.' Mac knew zilch about boats. Heck, the first time he'd ever even been on a boat was the USS Constitution and that didn't count. The Constitution wasn't anywhere near the water, and that was the way he liked it. With a bit of luck Nora wouldn't find her precious bloody oars and they could go back to the Castle and forget about this monumental folly.

'A-ha!'

Nora's triumphant shout shook Mac from his reverie. Double damn!! That shout could only mean one thing - she'd found the freakin' oars.

'Pack the gear, pop some Buffout, little bit of a practice run and the job's a good'un', Nora said, summing up her plan of actually rowing out to sea in this tiny little boat in one sentence.  
Mac glowered at Nora. Much as Mac loved Nora her 'can do' attitude over this stupid island was really starting to grate on him now. 

'Simple' he snarled.

'Yes', Nora said, nodding happily, 'it really is simple'

'I was being sarcastic...'

'Oh'... Nora tended to lose the ability to read body language and listen to reason when she was swept along with one of her 'plans'. 

Mac settled himself down on the boat seat and took the oars in his hands. 'Now what?' he asked Nora. Mac had childishly insisted that he took the first go of trying the boat but it had rapidly become apparent that he had no clue what he was supposed to do, having never been anywhere near a rowing boat in his life before.

'C'mon Mac, let me do it...,' Nora made a grab for the oars. He playfully made a lunge at her and grabbed her round the waist, with the aim of stealing a kiss from her. His sweeping movement had however set the boat pitching in an alarming manner and Nora had nearly taken a fall into the water.

'Smooth Mac, real smooth,' she laughed as she recovered her balance. At least he hadn't managed to lose the oars over the side. He reluctantly relinquished the hot seat and Nora took the oars in her hands whilst Mac carefully perched on the tiny bench at the bow of the boat. Nora managed to make a decent enough job of rowing, and once Mac had watched her for a while he thought he'd be able to take a turn. 

'Harder than it looks' he puffed as he wrestled with the oars. At least the boat was moving forward though, however slowly.

'Don't worry, this is only practice, once we've taken some Buffout we'll be there in no time,' Nora proclaimed.


	3. Special Chemistry

Mac puffed and swore as he rowed the boat into position in the little boathouse on Spectacle Island, mumbling random complaints to no-one in particular. 'Buffout wore off hours ago, further than it looks, getting dark, stupid idea anyway... '

Nora pretended not to hear, she knew better than to try and talk to Mac when he was in this mood. Getting across to the island had taken considerably more time and energy than she'd bargained for and sure enough daylight was fading when they tied the little boat to the jetty. She helped Mac unload the possessions they'd brought with them from the Castle. There were plenty of guns, ammo, some provisions and a bed roll each. She already had a fair idea of the lie of the land, on this side of the island at least. Her reconnaissance had noted the presence of this boathouse, another jetty, and a wrecked house with a large metal shack close by. On the southern side of the island was a shipwreck. They could maybe shelter in this boathouse tonight before heading off to explore the island at dawn. As long as they didn't have any company that is.  
Leaving their stuff in the boathouse they set out for a quick scout round of the immediate area. The house was a total wreck, and from what Nora could make out in the semi darkness there wasn't much there worth salvaging, but at least it was deserted. Close to the remains of the house was a metal shack, with a greenhouse lean to on the other side. It was intact and not too badly damaged. Mac tried the door, and it creaked open with a metallic squeak. Nora crept forward using the light on her Pip Boy to see into the darkness. Inside was a chemistry station and a power armour station as well as sundry other bits of junk.

'Looks like a good place to bunker down,' said Mac, ' well, better than that draughty old boat shed anyway.''  
Nora agreed, so they retrieved their kit from the boathouse. Nora set about arranging things as cozily as she could. It didn't look so bad once a few candles had been lit and she poured a couple of measures of whisky into each of their canteens. Mac dished out some of the other provisions they'd brought with them.

'We should have caught some fish on the way over', Nora said reflectively.

'Umm seriously?, Mac looked across at Nora 'We could barely keep that damn boat moving let alone fish from it!'

''S'pose so,' mumbled Nora with a grin. 'Anyway now that we're actually here, Mac, what do you think of it so far?'

'Well I'm still alive aren't I so I guess it's okay. My arms and shoulders are killing me after all that rowing,' he started kneading his shoulder with his hand to illustrate the point. 'Perhaps you should massage it better Nora?' He gave her a broad grin and a slow wink. 'Anyway, I reckon you owe me big time for dragging me here'

'Hang on a sec, my shoulders are aching too!' Nora protested. She turned and caught Mac's eyes and then performed an almost comical gulp as she recognised that smouldering look.

She positioned herself behind him and started to knead his shoulders. He shimmied his shoulders appreciatively and grunted, 'Oh yeah, that hits the spot.'

Nora carried on massaging his shoulders and upper arms for a while. His physical proximity and sighs of satisfaction were evoking a response in her. She knelt down behind him and started to nuzzle the back of his neck. She ran her hands up and down his chest, still clad in his grimy duster coat. She continued nuzzling his neck, more roughly now. Nipping and biting the small amount of flesh exposed by his scarf. She switched from kneeling to splaying her legs either side of him as she sat down behind him and pushed her body against his back. Even through several layers of clothes her breasts started to tingle at the pressure. Her pussy started to feel rather warm and almost uncomfortable as she pressed herself firmly to him and it became engorged with arousal. Mac's hands grasped hers and he took one of her hands up to his mouth and nuzzled and kissed the palm. She felt more warmth and need rising in her as he started suckling on her fingers. Her other hand found its way to the front of his pants which were now pulled taut signifying his own state of arousal. He made a low groan that reverberated around her fingers as he continued to suckle on them. Mac gently took her hand from his mouth and scooted around to face her.

'Oh Nora you drive me insane, you know that?' he sighed. 'You've dragged me out to this God forsaken island, you've had me rowing a damn boat and I still can't get enough of you'

She pushed him down onto a bed roll. 'Mac, I think you need to lie back and take it easy, you clearly over exerted yourself today.'

He lay back on the bed roll and watched spellbound as Nora discarded her trousers and panties and pushed her Silver Shroud coat aside revealing her swollen sex. He continued to watch mesmerised as her hands stroked and fondled her own pussy. She lay back slightly and tilted her pelvis upwards giving him a better view. Slowly and deliberately she inserted one finger into her wet pussy then equally as slowly drew it back out again, her eyes closed and a dreamy expression on her face. Her eyes flicked open again to stare deep into Mac's widening blue eyes as she inserted the finger into her mouth and lapped her own juices from them. She broke the spell momentarily as she reached over and unbuckled his trousers and pulled them down his hips. He eased himself out of his boxers. She placed one of his large, calloused hands firmly around his own hardened cock. 'I wanna watch you while you watch me' she whispered in his ear.

He started to pleasure himself with slow pumping strokes while continuing to watch Nora who was now stimulating her own clit in time with his strokes and sighing with pleasure. He began to pump his own cock a little harder and faster now and Nora groaned appreciatively as she watched him in the flickering candlelight. He didn't realise she was so close to climax until her shout of release rent the night air.

He was almost tipped over the edge himself at that, the rhythm of his own hand reaching a heightened tempo. Before that could happen though Nora was on her feet and had bent herself invitingly over the chemistry station . 'Oh god, I need you now Mac'. 

Clad in his duster and hat but naked from the waist down he thought it best to at least keep some clothes on just in case, much as he'd rather not. They were in unknown territory on this island after all. Nora was bent expectantly over the chemistry station and lifted her coat to reveal her peachy ass and swollen pussy. 'Please Mac'. He walked over to the workbench with agonising slowness. As he stood behind Nora he traced the soft curves of her buttocks with a gentle finger which worked its way tantalisingly slowly towards her opening and then he switched to teasing her with his swollen cock. She wriggled and tried to push herself back into him. He pulled back from her and continued to trace his cock around her drenched slit, teasing her as much as he could. He hadn't totally forgiven her for dragging him to this godforsaken island and it made him hard as a rock to hear her beg and squirm against him. He couldn't resist her pleas for much longer as he was just as desperate to feel her pussy clench around him as she was to have him inside of her. He paused a second just to hear her whimper with need and then thrust himself into her warm inviting pussy as far as he could. Nora gasped and shuddered pushing herself onto him in return. 'Oh god, oh yes Mac that feels so good' she murmured.

'You're telling me.. ' Mac mumbled. He started to thrust relishing the tightness and wetness of her pussy around him.

'Faster, Mac, faster' she pleaded with him. He was happy to oblige straightaway this time and his hands tightened around her hips as he picked up the tempo. The increased pounding set the bottles on the chemistry station rattling and shaking. Mac became more aware of the surroundings as he observed the glinting, shaking bottles on the bench. He shut his eyes and gave himself to the pleasure of his cock thrusting hard into Nora's willing pussy. The strangeness of the location turned him on even more. A freakin' chemistry station of all places. The sound of glass smashing brought him back into the moment. In her state of abandonment Nora had swept some bottles off the workbench onto the shack floor. Still Mac continued to fuck her hard and by now it felt like the whole flimsy shack was shaking in time with them. He could tell by the noises coming from Nora she wasn't far off her climax now. He knew from experience of her she'd very soon be screaming at full volume and those luscious pussy walls of hers clenching and unclenching around him. This was enough to tip him over the edge and he could feel himself surrendering to the moment. 

'Nora... ' he groaned.

'Oh god oh Mac' she responded and he felt her pussy spasm in orgasm, and lost himself as he was swept along in his own ecstasy. His cock pumped into her and as his orgasm subsided he gently withdrew himself from her soaking pussy. Juices mingled with his cum started to trickle from her.

'Don't move for a minute, Nora,' he begged her. The sight of her bent over that chemistry station in the candlelight with her pussy spilling out their combined juices was something he wanted to savour and commit to his memory.

'Can I get up now?' Nora asked a few moments later. He had rather lost track of time.

'Umm, yeah, sorry Nor' he said, somewhat embarrassed  
'Ahh Mac, in this crazy world I'm so glad I found you. You make me so happy, I love you,' she said, 'please promise you'll never leave me.'

Mac looked across at Nora quizzically. She was normally so hard boiled and unemotional he rarely heard her talk like this and it was a welcome change. He kissed her softly and held her close.

'Never, I promise, never,' he whispered into her ear.


	4. Night Watch

Mac insisted on taking first watch while Nora slept. He was all for the occasional little pick-me-up but he suspected if he let Nora stay awake and keep first watch she'd get high on Jet whilst he slept. She always wanted to hit the chems after lovemaking. There was a time and a place and this most certainly wasn't either. Heck, he wouldn't put it past her to actually start cooking up concoctions at the chemistry station given half a chance. He didn't have the heart or the inclination to call her out on her enthusiasm for chems, as long as it didn't cause them grief he was cool with it. He had to admit that her talent at the chemistry station was a pretty good money spinner as well. If it ever became a problem then he'd deal with it. He wasn't into nannying people. She'd not needed too much persuasion to take second watch tonight. In her relaxed post-coital state she was soon snoring away. Mac giggled to himself. 'Snora' he'd called her teasingly the first time he'd heard her snore many months ago. After vociferously denying that she ever snored, followed by death threats that may not have been in jest, he'd had to promise never to call her by that name ever again. It still made him chortle to think of it. He was a little envious of her ability to sleep so deeply. A lifetime in the wastelands meant Mac slept lightly with his rifle close by and was ready to spring into action at the first sign of trouble. Somehow he just knew that Nora liked to watch him while he slept. Didn't know how he knew, he just did. Like a kind of sixth sense. The idea of it had freaked him out in the early days but that was a lifetime ago and now he accepted it as another one of Nora's many quirks. If she really wanted to sit and stare at his _gorgeous_ mug who was he to judge? He smiled to himself at the thought.  
  
He crawled through a hole in the wall between the shack and the greenhouse and sat peering out through the mucky glass using the night vision scope on his rifle to scan the horizon. There wasn't much to see. A sea fog had descended on the island and anything more than a few feet away was obscured from him. He listened as he looked but all he could hear was the noise of the waves lapping on the shore and Nora's steady snoring. Thankfully their earlier noisy indiscretion hadn't brought anything hostile crawling out of the woodwork. Minutes turned into hours as he saw out his watch. He was used to being alone, long hours spent in sniper's nests had made this second nature to him. He checked the time on the battered old watch he wore on his right arm. It wasn't all singing and dancing like Nora's Pip Boy but it told the time accurately enough, as long as he remembered to wind it up each day. It was his turn to sleep now.  
Crouching by the recumbent Nora he whispered, 'Wake up, sleepyhead.'  


She stretched and yawned, leaning forward to give Mac a kiss. As she rose from the sleeping bag she grabbed her rifle. Mac settled down himself to take his turn to sleep. To be on the safe side he surreptitiously rested the bag with the chems in it under his arm. Bit of insurance wouldn't hurt. 

By the time Nora had crawled through to the greenhouse part of the shack she was fully awake.  
Nora always took a little longer than Mac to shake the sleep. Sometimes she woke up and forgot where she was. Sometimes she woke up thinking she was in her pre-vault marital bed in Sanctuary Hills. Those were the worst days of all. Nora hugged her rifle to her knees. The fog coming in from the sea had placed a chill in the air.

Maybe she'd been wrong dragging them out here to this island, chasing a dream. The need to know, the need to explore was so strong in her now she'd been unable to resist the challenge. In her old life she'd always thought explorers and adventurers were crazy lunatics, chasing the next adrenaline rush to stroke their own ego. Now she understood what drove them, always reaching for the next high, the next discovery, never wanting humdrum routine to anaesthetise their senses. Her old life with Shaun and Nate before waking from the vault was unreal to her now, like a television program she'd watched a long time ago and could only remember parts of. She wasn't sure she wanted to forget but the alternative was worse, if she remembered she'd have to somehow reconcile the person she'd become with the person that she once was. When she'd betrayed the 60 year old Shaun and left him to die in the Institute was when the flame of old Nora had guttered and died. Shaun... damn now she'd thought about him, opened that can of worms. Her usual response to these... feelings... would be to reach for the Jet and try to forget. She knew fine well why Mac wanted her to take second watch. Whilst she'd happily indulge her craving on first watch she wasn't reckless or selfish enough to start the day wrecked on Jet, and he knew it. Still the unwelcome thoughts intruded on her, she almost wished a hostile presence would make itself known so she could stop this chain of thought. She scanned the ever lightening horizon with her binoculars, nope, nothing out there in the fog that she could see, and all that could be heard were the mournful cries of the gulls, sounding strangely like baby cries. This observation led her down the thought path she dreaded the most. That little boy that called her 'Mom', the synth Shaun. She couldn't deal with it, she couldn't cope with him staring back at her with Nate's eyes. After she'd brought synth Shaun from the Institute she'd dumped him in Sanctuary Hills and now avoided the place as much as she could. Jun and Marcy Long had taken Shaun under their wing and he seemed to have eased them out of their depression, so at least something good had come of it. Nora wondered if they would still feel the same about him if they knew he was a synth. More lies, but she couldn't risk it becoming public knowledge. Even with the Institute gone anti-synth feeling was still running high in the Commonwealth. She knew Mac disapproved of her treatment of Shaun. She could tell by the set of his shoulders, a slight tic in his jaw that he was holding back, an inner dialogue running inside him. So far he'd refrained from giving voice to any of his concerns. Running away, chasing the next adventure, forgetting, that was by far the better option right now, whatever Mac may or may not think of her. As long as he kept his opinions to himself and didn't force her to confront her demons she could cope. For now at least. She sat brooding and watching trying to keep the ghosts away.


	5. The Bigger They Come...

By the time Nora finished her watch the the fog was rapidly lifting. Mac opened the door to the shack wide to let more light in and as the door swung open it revealed a decomposing corpse on the steps of the wrecked house.

'Nice..', Mac gagged, glad he hadn't had any breakfast yet. 'Good thing we didn't see that last night...'

Exploring the jetty and boathouse where their rowing boat was moored was the work of a few minutes. The jetty contained a patio area, with table and chairs still set on it, rusty and weather beaten but still useable. Mac could imagine that it had been quite inviting once upon a time. The house was just a shell, with nothing much to recommend it. The land was sandy and rocky, rising steeply from the waters edge. On the horizon towards the middle of the island more man made structures could be seen. Mac and Nora decided that after breakfast they would set off in that direction to explore.

Back in the shack they settled down and ate a few of their provisions. Mac cracked open a couple of containers of purified water. 'Cheers' he said passing one to Nora. 'I've got to hand it to you Nora, I actually think this was one of your better schemes,' he gestured to the chemistry station, 'if only for the sake of last night... I'm telling you I'm gonna be sportin' a woody every time I see a damn chem station now.'

Nora laughed, 'Play your cards right and we might even manage a repeat performance.'  
The laughter disappeared from Nora's face 'I hear something, shhh', Nora flapped her hands at Mac to indicate that he should stop eating and listen.

Mac cocked his head to one side and listened. Shit... he heard it too, that noise, there was definitely something out there. He crept towards the open door while Nora froze to the spot. They'd both agreed early on in their partnership that stealth and distance were absolutely necessary above everything else. Neither of them were inclined to rush into close combat. They would spend as long as it took observing the routines of the places they were infiltrating from a safe distance, and then pick off hostiles one at a time with their sniper rifles. They had developed a kind of sign language that enabled them to communicate effectively in this situation. Working together was second nature and they swung into action now.

Mac signed to Nora from the doorway, she interpreted his signs which told her that there were about 5 mirelurks out there, but more than 100 yards away from them.

She signed back to him to wait and grabbed her rifle. Creeping towards Mac she pointed to the roof of the shack to indicate her intentions. Noiselessly they left the shack and jumped and clambered up to the rickety roof. Mac winced as the shack rattled and protested noisily, but as he reached the apex of the roof he saw the mirelurks were still some considerable distance away and as yet oblivious to their presence. Nora crouched down next to him. Mac signed to her which mirelurks he'd take out and which she should aim for.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Their shots simultaneously broke the peace. A couple of mirelurks went down, alerting the remaining mirelurks to the threat, and they started scuttling towards the shack. They were still some distance away and were easily dealt with.

'Damn, and I was just starting to have fun,' Mac said reloading his rifle.

'Umm, fresh mirelurk meat your favourite...' Nora reminded him.

'I just hope that's the worst we'll have to deal with here,' Mac jumped down from the shack roof. 'Now how about we go and get ready to explore the rest of this island.' 

Mac thought Nora might be erring too much on the side of caution when he saw her packing her beloved gauss rifle. It was a magnificent weapon but the ammo was as rare as hen's teeth and prohibitively expensive so she only liked to use it in the most dire emergency. As long as she didn't expect him to carry it he supposed it wouldn't hurt to be prepared. Anything could be waiting for them over the horizon. He filled his own backpack with plenty of molotovs, grenades and mines. When they were both happy with their selections they set off, creeping around the mirelurk corpses that littered their path.

This part of the island was populated by light scrubland and sparse patches of trees, so even creeping along they made good progress. It wasn't long before they reached the small metal structure they'd seen from a distance. There was a ladder leading up to it and Nora ascended the ladder and went in. Inside was a workbench and an electrical circuit breaker. Using her Pip Boy to illuminate the area further Nora spotted a note on the table. She took it outside where Mac was waiting so they could read it together.

_'1. Make sure the wires to the generator are all connected properly. Last thing we need is another short blowing out the generator - Randy!_  
_2\. The generator MUST be on before turning on the signal tower. (I suggest you stay out of the water when flipping the generator switch, just sayin'.)_  
_3.You'll know when the signal is playing when - well, you'll just know. Once the feedback goes away it will sound like there's nothing coming out of the speakers. There is, but only the mirelurks can hear it.'_

'Hmm, some sort of mirelurk deterrent device,' said Mac, 'when it stopped working the mirelurks must have killed all the settlers'

'Let's get it working again then,' Nora replied. Somehow Mac had known she was going to say that.

A wire ran from the metal hut down the hill through a series of pylons. No great deductive skills were required to work out where the generator was - it was in the wrecked ship that they'd already spotted to the south of the island.

'So, how we going to play this thing then, Nora?' 

'Well, I'll go aboard the ship and turn the generator on of course.' she retorted.

'Just like that?' he questioned. It all seemed a bit too straightforward. 'Oh what the heck, let's just do it then'

The ship was tilted on its side in the marshy land to the south of the island. Someone had thoughtfully laid plank boardwalks right up to the ship so Mac didn't even have to get his feet wet. Mac looked around the remains of the ship. The amount of time he'd been spending in boats recently he'd have to swap his cap for a sea captain's hat soon he thought with half smile. There were some useful bits and bobs for them to loot in the upper part of the boat and this put Nora in a 'I've just nabbed some free stuff' good mood.

'Right, who's doing the honours?' asked Mac, gesticulating to the circuit breaker by the generator. 

'I'd better do it seeing as you're wearing steel toecap boots,' Nora pointed to the offending footwear. 

'Like that's going to make much difference the amount of metal you're carrying,' Mac responded, 'you're like a walking lightning conductor.'

In the time it had taken for him to say this Nora had already opened the circuit breaker and activated the generator. 

'Shhhh - I hear something,' Mac whispered, standing stock still in the doorway. He peered over the side of the ship. 'Holy shit.... umm I think we just awakened all the creatures of the fuckin' deep out there,' he exclaimed. 

'Shit, shit, shit,' Nora mumbled under her breath, readying her gauss rifle. 'Right, here's a plan,' she breathily whispered to Mac, who was fumbling with his rifle at her side, 'I want you to sneak back up to that hut and activate the signal tower whilst I use the gauss rifle to take out as many of these bastards as I can. What do you reckon?'

'As plans go, it's not exactly the best, but OK, it'll have to do. I don't think we'll be able to hold them off if we both stay here,' he looked across the marsh, where more and more mirelurks were appearing. 'That fucking generator seems to be attracting them not repelling them! I just hope the signal tower thing works,' Mac mumbled as he gathered a cluster of fragmentation grenades from his backpack into his pockets for easy access.

Nora loaded her gauss rifle and hefted it to her shoulder. She crouched down and peered over the edge of the ship. Fuck, was that a mirelurk queen? And some mirelurk hunters? Oh god.. Mac, please be safe she pleaded internally.

She concentrated on shooting the mirelurks that were in Mac's direct path as he dashed back to the metal shack containing the activation switch for the signal tower. He was clearing a path around him with grenades and his rifle in an effective manner, if not very stealthily. She carried on shooting at the mirelurks and Mac went out of sight over the hill into the scrubland, pursued by some maddened mirelurks.

When the noise from the last grenade Mac had hurled subsided she heard another loud noise, some sort of electrical feedback. Mac must have reached the hut safely and activated the signal tower. The feedback noise didn't last long before giving way to silence. The signal was evidently working because the queen mirelurk was heading back towards the sea, as were all the other mirelurks. Nora stayed where she was and shot at the retreating mirelurks that weren't moving away as fast as she would have liked. There wasn't a mirelurk in sight when Mac appeared at her side having made his way back to the shipwreck.

'Fuck Mac, did you see that? There was a mirelurk queen, mirelurk hunters, mirelurk deep kings and about a million mirelurks. That was crazy'

'Sorry Nora, I didn't have time to refer to my 'Wasteland Guide to Mirelurks' whilst I was trying to run for my life from them,' Mac sneered sarcastically, 'I just hope that signal tower keeps working. Oh, and just so you know, I've definitely gone off mirelurk meat for the foreseeable future.'


	6. ...The Harder They Fall

Once the mirelurks had been dealt with exploring the rest of the island had been uneventful. They had found a few makeshift structures, some more dead settlers. On the north side of the island there were lots of containers stacked up on the shoreline, seemingly washed ashore from a wrecked cargo ship. Nora's Pip Boy had detected radiation in this area so they had avoided it, as their hazmat suits were back in the shack by the jetty. The sun was high in the sky by the time they arrived back at the shack and sat down for lunch.

'I reckon this place would make a great settlement, ' said Nora as she bit into some mutfruit.

'That's probably what those other poor buggers thought,' Mac pointed in the general direction of some settlers' corpses. 'The trouble is you are relying on that bodged signal tower to keep those bloody mirelurks at bay. You'd always be one lightning strike or a breakdown away from disaster.'

'So, no different from anywhere else then? This isn't exactly a safe world in general,' Nora pointed out, 'Still, it would be a good idea to get some sort of back up device in place. Perhaps Sturges could come over and build a replica. Combined with some gun turrets we could be reasonably confident of containing the mirelurk threat.'

Mac couldn't believe that he was actually going to suggest to Nora what he was thinking, but she didn't have the monopoly on crackpot schemes. The rose tinted visions she'd implanted in his head had taken root. The idea of bringing Duncan here had really struck a chord with him now he'd seen the island for himself. Might as well go for it, though he knew once the words were out of his mouth and Nora had heard them he'd be letting himself in for a world of pain. He cleared his throat and said hesitantly, 'Mirelurk queens are pretty rare. After we cleared the queen from The Castle there haven't been any others popping up to take her place. I've had a thought... what if we take out all of those mirelurks ourselves...Now. By the time they've had a chance to re-populate the area we'll be ready with backup measures and defences'

Nora's initial reaction was nothing if not predictable. She looked at him for a few moments and then let rip, ''Here's a nice story for Publick Occurences - _'I was there the day the 'great legend of the wastes', Robert Joseph MacCready, finally lost the plot'_ , you're fucking crazy. You are saying that we voluntarily lure a mirelurk queen and all her attendants out to attack us, Mac?'

He was warming to his own scheme now and was able to speak with more conviction. 'Yeah but we'd be expecting them this time - and we'd be ready for them. I've brought plenty of mines with me, and I'm guessing you have a few tricks up your sleeve too. If things got too hot to handle we could just turn the signal tower back on. I've been getting pretty good vibes about this place now this morning's fun and games are over. This place could really be something special. We could organise some sort of ferry service, build whatever we wanted here, defend the area to the hilt. Make a proper home if those mirelurks are dealt with.' 

'Okay, you convinced me,' Nora was pleased with this turn of events. Blowing hundreds of mirelurks sky high and all with Mac's approval. What could be more fun than that? Not only that it was completely his idea so if it all went to hell in a hand cart it would be his fault for a change instead of hers. Yes, she could get behind this idea. 'No time like the present, let's do this thing before it gets dark.'

 

'I think that's all of them deployed now,' Mac said as he strategically placed the last mine in the marsh. 'Just make sure you watch your step!' Between them they had placed all their combined mines in the marshland and beaches around the shipwreck. By the time they were done there were about 30 mines of various types waiting for the mirelurks. They had also placed molotovs near the mines for good measure.

Nora picked her way towards Mac and they both walked up the hill to the metal shack housing the switch for the signal tower. Mac climbed onto the roof of the shack and loaded Nora's gauss rifle with ammunition. It had been agreed between them (grudgingly on Nora's part) that as he was by far the better marksman he would pick off stray mirelurks with the rifle from the roof whilst she stayed near the switch in case it needed to be reactivated quickly. 

'Right, Mac, are you sure about this?' Nora bellowed as her hand rested on the control switch.

'Just do it!' He yelled back in an annoyed tone.

With a decisive movement Nora pulled the breaker switch to the off position. They waited with baited breath. Mac felt the hairs on the back of his neck starting to rise as from his vantage point he saw the waters around the ship wreck start to erupt with an outpouring of mirelurks.  
'Here they come....' He said giddy with nervous anticipation. 

Then all hell broke loose. Explosion after explosion rent the air. Flashes of light filled the sky and the high shrieks of dying mirelurks could be heard between the blasts. Nora stood outside the shack peering towards the direction of the carnage, rifle at the ready. She craned her neck and used VATS on her Pip Boy to see if there were any mirelurks approaching through the smoke but none were picked up. Large rain drops started to fall on her, distracting her attention. These were very large, insistent drops of rain. She looked up to the sky... No it wasn't rain... This was more like snow coming down. 

'Ugh, fucking mirelurk goo!' Mac shouted from his vantage point. 

Nora realised then what was happening - the blasted remains of the mirelurks were raining down on the island. Disgusting. Bits of shell, blood and gore were falling from the sky all over them. Mac's voice drifted down from the roof. 'You can turn the signal back on now. I think we got all of them. ' Nora flipped the breaker, the system appeared to be working - a noise of electrical feedback followed by silence, broken by Mac's heavy footfall as he dropped down from the roof.

'We actually did it, that should buy us some time to get some proper defences sorted for this place. Once we've got it cleaned up a bit of course,' said Nora, wiping some mirelurk goo from her sunglasses. 

The mirelurk remains had stopped raining down on them now. Nora smiled happily at Mac, this place was all that she hoped it would be. Mac was delighted his scheme had worked and hugged Nora close to him. There was a lot of work ahead of them to turn the island into a proper home but with some help it would be manageable. He was just going to have to get used to rowing...


End file.
